


Frost

by Temujin



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Multi, Secret Warriors - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 02:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7147979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Temujin/pseuds/Temujin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Present time. The remnants of SHIELD face more and more dangerous enemies. To even the odds, Daisy Johnson is searching for new members to add to her secret team of powerful Inhumans. Together with Lincoln and Joey, the new team adventures into the extreme environment of Antarctica to find someone she thought she lost...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Aerial Apprach

"We are eight minutes from the drop zone!" May yelled back from the cockpit.

Skye gazed down and tugged the sleeves of her fitted black suit. She pushed a little against the safety belts that kept her securely in her seat. The grey eagle mascot of S.H.I.E.L.D. stood out prominently on the shoulder. The other inhabitants of the loading bay wore matching outfits. Outside the Arctic winds were pummeling the plane at hundreds of miles per hour.

"Are we sure about this?" Lincoln now, fastened securely in his seat against the hanger bay walls of Zephyr One. Skye struggled to see the details of his face in the dim reddish lighting.

"We have to check."

"Someone you knew?"

"You could say that."

"Are we sure he's alive?"

She chose not to answer back.

"I think Fitz has finished the analyzing the scans we took earlier," said Joey, gesturing with his head to the overhead screen.

Skye checked. The mounted TV Coulson had installed for briefings showed a zoomed in view of the desolate frozen landscape they were about to jump into. As she watched different layers of the ice were highlighted in different colors. The thicker parts were shown in green. She knew that outside, the plane's powerful sensors were battling through the snow to get a clear picture of the ground beneath. In the top right corner she spied a small revolving globe, marked with the ocean currents that had led her to plan this mission.

It felt like so long ago, poised on the upper levels of the cargo ship. Rifle in hand, aiming down at the deck below her. At him. A boy with potential. HYDRA. She replayed him falling into the water in her mind. Him reeling back with the power of the shot. The ice forming around him. Falling into the North Atlantic Ocean. The official report saying that no body had been found in the watery depths. She had been hoping since then, beyond hope...

Fitz appeared in the doorway, clutching a tablet computer in one hand and the railing in the other to keep himself steady in the rocking plane. "Just remember," he said, breaking her thoughts,"we can't give you that much time. Your calculations with the ocean currents have narrowed the area you'll have to cover, but it's still massive. Your uniforms are as warm as I can make them, which means you'll be fine on the surface, but-"

"-water will pose a serious risk of hypothermia." she finished.

Fitz nodded. "The conditions are too severe to land the plane, but we'll send down a containment module to ferry you all back up."

The trio nodded in unison.

Joey pulled his thick fur-lined hood tighter. "Daisy's simulation showed this guy, Donnie, as having a possibly frozen underneath almost a dozen feet of harder-then-concrete ice. How would we get him out then?"

Fitz gestured to the grey drawstring bag by Lincoln's feet. "Specialized explosives. Just enough to clear away enough of the ice that we can haul him out with the plane after you send back the all-clear. We'll be circling out in calmer airspace until then."

"One more thing," said Joey again, bouncing against the all-too-tight seat-belt with nervous anticipation.

"Mmhmm?" Answered Fitz.

"Just in case...should we take those weapons you've been designing for us?"

Fitz cracked a smile. "Still in progress, though I'm sure you'll find the Icers in your packs more then capable."

Joey did his best not to look too disappointed. Lincoln turned in his seat as Simmons walked up to stand beside Fitz, placing an arm around his waist.

"I added a few high-energy foods to each of your packs," she said, gazing at the trio, "you'll need them." She gazed up at Fitz, "we should head in, we've almost arrived."

Fitz nodded, and together with Simmons wished the team good luck before heading back through the sliding door. The light above it turned from green to red as it locked in place.

Daisy, Lincoln, and Joey glanced at each other from across the wide space. The roof sat high above them, supported by the internal metal frame of the plane. Daisy sat on the left side, while the two guys sat on the right. Between them was a large grey-white package, a secure storage box, with its huge parachute carefully strapped on top. It was roughly the size of a small car, and contained ground transportation in the form of snowmobiles specially designed by Fitz, and temporary shelter if they were caught in a blizzard.

There was a burst of static overhead before May's voice came in again over the intercom. "Two minutes!"

Daisy thanked her S.H.I.E.L.D. training as she unbuckled herself from her seat, stood, and stretched before double-checking that her parachute was properly packed and strapped to her, before doing the same for Lincoln and Joey. She smiled at their nervousness. They slipped on masks to protect themselves from the wind and to help with visibility on the ground. Fitz had also included oxygen cylinders in their packs for the jump, that could be used also once they landed to help with breathing in the stark conditions.

"First jump for an operation?"

"Yah," they both answered staring at each other through their masks in unease.

"Don't worry, you'll love it."

They stood in the Zephyr One's loading bay, waiting for the door to lower, the briefing screen throwing up shadows of them onto the snowmobiles.

Daisy gestured to hand-holds along the side for the other two to hold onto.

"The package is going to slide off first and automatically deploy its parachute once it reaches a certain altitude." Started Daisy.

Joey continued, "We have to wait until we know it has passed a safe distance from the plane before jumping ourselves"

Lincoln finished, "and then we have to find it once on the ground."

"Right, both of you." Daisy relaxed a little, leaning against the aircraft's wall. She missed the Bus.

The intercom again. "20 seconds!"

A series of low beeps growing progressively louder echoed through the confined area as the loading bay door started to lower, drastically lowering the temperature of the space and introducing a bright white light that flooded in through her mask. She shivered. Between the warning sounds of the now fully open door and the howling wind she could hear nothing else.

She signaled to Joey and Lincoln with her hands. They nodded. She outstretched her palm and concentrated. The rectangular container started slipping down the path. She gave it a final push with her powers as it exited the plane and was caught by the wind, whisked away by its strength. She glanced up at the screen, which now showed Zephyr One in red, their outlines in blue, and the package quickly falling away in a different shade of blue.

The screen switched again to the breakdown of their target landing area. It was still glowing bright green, thick enough to support their landing.

She checked her watch, knowing they were doing the same. She held up her hands, all five fingers up. One by one she lowered them.

Then she closed her fist, let go of the handhold, and got a running start down the metallic flooring of the plane, boots echoing against the floor, her team close behind her.

And they jumped in to the white abyss, snatched away by the swirling vortex.


	2. Soft landing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Secret Warriors are falling through the freezing winds, Zephyr One with it's remaining crew falls back into it's regularly scheduled flight pattern. Well, that's what should have happened.

She was immediately enveloped in the wind.

And she felt exhilarated and free.

Time stretched.

Her limbs were numb.

Somewhere behind her was Lincoln and Joey.

She blinked.

The mask bit into her nose. Her uniform clung tight to her body, insulating her from the cold. She was hurtling toward the ground at terminal velocity, over a hundred miles per hour, over six hundred feet per second. She watched the number climb higher and higher in the digital display of her watch, blinking a few times to make sure she was reading it correctly. The clouds blurred her vision as she dropped past them, obscuring her sight even through the mask. Her heartbeat soared. All she could see is grey. All she could feel was her body stretching, expanding, she felt her stomach drop as she free fell towards the ground. She screamed, exuberantly. Somewhere above her she thought she could hear Lincoln doing the same, with Joey the loudest of all.

She spread out her arms and legs suddenly, slowing herself down. She had been falling for what? Three seconds? Five? She didn't want it to end.

Peering down at the ground she saw nothing. Experimentally, she tried pushing outwards with her powers. She was rewarded when she found herself spinning with her limbs outstretched like a star towards the right. She grinned, and turned herself around midair to gaze upwards. She spotted the other two twirling and twisting midair. She thought she could see Zephyr One in the distance, but knew it must have passed out of their eyesight long ago. Lincoln suddenly started to dive down, arrow straight, head facing her. Joey followed.

She was being supported by the wind on her back, but 'sat up' as much as she could with no solid ground, to raise both her arms towards the rapidly approaching black figures. She could make out them doing the same. The wind played with her hair below, as they each took one of her arms, gripping her gloved hands with their own. She straightened out her legs again, behind her. The team formed a circle, arms linked, facing each other, looking at each other as best they could. They passed through clouds, and tightening their grip on each other as they did so to fight off the chill. They passed in and out of sight from each other, though they were holding hands mere feet away.

They let gravity orient themselves to face downwards. They spun slowly, then quicker, trying to even themselves out and keep as stable and flat as possible. Daisy could feel her pack pulling against her shoulders.

She gazed at Lincoln's watch over his elbow on her right. They didn't have much time. She gazed up at her team. They completed another full rotation, before they nodded, fell back, and pushed off against each other, boots meeting simultaneously in the center of what had been their formation. She thought she saw Lincoln do a somersault, and Joey a back flip. They were suspended in the air, almost standing, arms trailing in the wind. Drifting slowly apart to give each other space. She imagined them smiling their heads off behind the black masks. It made her smile behind her own.

She did a flip of her own, a push from her palm, assisted by her powers. Because why waste the opportunity?

The digital display of her watch was blinking. If she could hear over the wind, it would be beeping too. Warning her of the soon appearing ground. She had been unable to see it before. The pack strapped to her body became more evident. Her parachute would automatically deploy once she dropped below a certain altitude, for safety, but Daisy preferred to do it on her own terms. Less of a surprise that way. With a sigh she reached her arms behind her, patting against the material of her pack. Her fingers were numb, but with another stretch she managed to find the cord and with more effort, managed to pull it.

Something large and fast flew past her head, pushing past her hair. Her pack felt lighter, then again everything did in the air.

Her vision tilted sideways, as the black canopy opened over head. Her limbs constricted in protest, as the straps bit into them with the force of the sudden deceleration. The wind stopped howling. Her vision cleared. Somewhere her heart began to slow down. She was exhilarated. Happy. Content. She gazed up. A large black stretch of fabric had unfurled above her head. She was sure she could make out the S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem printed in the center, although, reversed from her perspective beneath it through the fabric.

To her sides she could make out two other parachutes, as well as their inhabitants flailing limbs. They were above her, having deployed their parachutes earlier. Probably at the first blink of their watches, she thought. She thought she could make out hair colors from her position, and guessed Lincoln was on her left, and Joey was on her right. Beyond that, her own parachute obstructed her view.

Below her stretched the Arctic landscape, serene and beautiful. The grey-white world was ready for their approach. It looked flat, from her perspective, easy enough to traverse. Easier still once they located the ground transportation they had dropped before jumping themselves. It shouldn't have landed too far from their own landing location.

Peaceful minutes passed as they drifted slowly with the wind. They steered their parachutes in wide arcs, matching and intersecting each others paths from above and below, trying to get a feel and the best view of the landscape beneath them. The team took the opportunity to eat some of their energy bars and take sips from their water bottles, trying to prepare themselves for their landing.

As the ground fast approached, Daisy straightened her legs, then moved them quickly as she came to a running stop, parachute trailing behind her, before collapsing in the snow. From below she watched as Lincoln and Joey did the same in a synchronized movement, coming to a stop a dozen or so feet ahead on either side of her.

"Did you guys plan that?"

"We're just naturals." responded Lincoln.

"mmhm"

They quickly packed their parachutes in their bags and headed off towards the drop location of their other equipment, which was marked with a glowing, pulsing green dot on Daisy's laptop that she pulled from her pack.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
May sighed in the cockpit of Zephyr One. It wasn't the same as the Bus.

She had closed up the loading bay doors as soon as Daisy and her team had jumped and steered the plane off to calmer and higher airspace. Elsewhere in the aircraft, Simmons was readying for any and all medical interventions Zephyr One could handle. Though she was prioritizing treatment for frostbite and hypothermia, they didn't know what state they'd find Donnie in, if he'd be conscious or not, or even if they'd find him. It had been a long time ago, but May had been on that cargo ship as well. She remembered nodding as Skye, now Daisy, took her place with the rifle. She remembered signing off on her involvement in his death. Possible death.

Fitz was pouring over the scans he had taken earlier as they had flown over the drop-zone and surrounding area to confirm its location and safety. He was excited, motivated for projects again. A good sign. He had changed when he had come through that portal. Coulson was still shaken.

So far at least, the team on the ground wouldn't be facing any hostile threats, ones that were shooting at them. None that showed up on their radars and scans, at least.

The computer beeped, she glanced at her radar. But we might. Red dots appeared all around them. Quinjets. At least a dozen. One uncloaked dangerously close to her cockpit window.

Fitz stormed in. Simmons immediately after. Various alarms started to go off throughout the plane.

"Buckle up!" She shouted, as the closest Quinjet turned its wing and drifted closer. They were close enough to see the silhouette of the pilot.

She tightened her grip on the controls as she prepared for evasive maneuvers.

Fitz followed her gaze. Simmons let out an involuntary gasp as they took in the decoration on the Quinjet's wing.

HYDRA was cutting them off from the team.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"It's so empty here." Said Joey, hiking alongside Daisy and Lincoln.

"Peaceful," responded Lincoln.

Their boots crunched against the snow, as they ascended another incline. Daisy froze.

"Did the air over there just shimmer?"

"Could be the Northern Lights," said Lincoln.

"Might be just a regular Antarctica thing," commented Joey, "probably nothing to worry about. Besides, we're almost to the snowmobiles."

"Yeah," said Daisy, not entirely convinced, but she ignored it. "I can't wait to not have to walk."

The snow slowed their progress, and through their suits they could feel some of the below freezing temperatures. The wind had stopped where they were.

They continued towards the package.

Above, a cloaked Quinjet hovered, then turned.

The Quinjet spun off into the twilight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love reviews and comments and suggestions. Really, feedback in general <3


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